1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a power semiconductor device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Known power semiconductor devices, generally power semiconductor components such as, for example, power semiconductor switches and diodes are arranged on a substrate and are electrically conductively connected to one another by means of a conductor layer of the substrate and bonding wires and/or a foil composite. In this case, the power semiconductor switches are generally present in the form of transistors, such as, e.g., IGBTs (Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor) or MOSFETs (Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor), or in the form of thyristors.
In this case, the power semiconductor components arranged on the substrate are often electrically interconnected to form one or more so-called half-bridge circuits, which are used, e.g., for rectifying and inverting electrical voltages and currents.
Conventional power semiconductor devices also have load terminal elements for carrying load currents. With the aid of such load terminal elements, the power semiconductor devices can be electrically conductively connected to external components. In this case, the load currents generally have a higher current intensity, compared to auxiliary currents serving, e.g., for driving the power semiconductor switches. The load terminal elements generally have to be led through the housing of the power semiconductor device. In this case, power semiconductor devices often have to comply with the requirement of being protected, e.g., against splash water (e.g. IP54), such that the load terminal elements have to sealed with respect to the housing. In the case of conventional power semiconductor devices, the load terminal elements are led through a cutout in the housing and sealed with respect to the housing by means of a silicone sealing compound and/or further sealing elements. Owing to the conventional rectangular contour of known load terminal elements, at the edges of the load terminal elements there are often small regions, or gaps, where no sealing material is present or such gaps form over the course of time. Because of such gaps, the load terminal elements are insufficiently sealed with respect to the housing, leading to problems in the operation of the power semiconductor device.